I have been many things in this world, and often they were challenging and gratifying, but one of my favorites was being a bookstore owner.  My husband and I bought the bookstore after he retired from his military career. I had always dreamed of owning a bookstore but it was never the right time or the right place. One day we went to lunch across the street from this rundown used bookstore, that wasn’t even for sale. Greg looked at me and said, “let’s do it”. We walked into that overcrowded dusty bookstore and we made an offer to the owner and she said, “yes”. So began our bookselling journey. We worked tirelessly for years cleaning, remodeling and making our independent bookstore a community gathering place where all were welcome.

 

I loved my bookstore, it was a book lovers haven with new and used treasures around every corner. My beautiful bookshop was right in the heart of our downtown on the main street. I met friends that I will keep and cherish for life in that bookstore, people from our community and all over the world who changed and influenced the way I see the world. I spent years researching, reading books, writing reviews and buying books… it was a little like being in love.

I would sit inside the bookstore and look around and have such an overwhelming feeling of pride and ownership that I knew this was my calling….. Until the day I realized my love of homesteading was being threatened by the success of my bookstore. 60 hours a week away from your home makes it hard to have animals and gardens. My home and property were slowly taking a back seat to the bookstore. The time came when I had to make a choice, continue building my bookstore dream but that required selling my house and property and moving to town, or continue my homesteading dream and selling my bookstore. With a heavy heart, I chose the homesteading dream.  Homesteading is a tangible part of my life. I wake up, go to sleep, live, love and breathe my homesteading life. It is who I am, not what I do, I know I made the right choice.

Even though I made the decision to pursue my homesteading life, I have never lost my love of books and reading. While owning our bookstore I indulged my love of homesteading, farming, gardening and cooking with extensive book collections of new, used and rare books on every subject imaginable. Its been a few years since I have recommended a book to anyone, but I want to share my homesteading collection with you. This is a handful of book that I have enjoyed, been inspired by and shared with friends.

“I believe that if one fathoms deeply one’s own neighborhood and the everyday world in which he lives, the greatest of worlds will be revealed.”
― Masanobu Fukuoka, The One-Straw Revolution

Homesteading Books-Non Fiction

 

One Mans Wilderness: An Alaskan Odyssey by Richard Proenneke

One of the most inspiring books of self-sufficiency and a person’s primal need to connect with nature and solitude.  A true story of Alaska that makes a person want to pack up and move.

 

We Took to the Woods by Louise Dickson Rich 

 

Winterdance by Gary Paulson

The well-known children’s writer of books such as ‘Hatchet’, also wrote a spectacular adult book about dog mushing. Paulsen moved his family to a cabin without water or electricity, to pursue his love of dog mushing and running the famous Iditarod sled dog race in Alaska. I love this book, not only does it inspire me to try something new that might be hard for me, but it is also one of the funniest books I have ever read. I laughed so hard I cried.

Goat Song by Brad Kessler

A true story about getting out of the city and living life on the land. Brad Kessler and his wife moved to a seventy-five-acre goat farm in a small southern Vermont town, where they planned to make a living by raising goats and making cheese.  His book is contemplative, historical, and literary as he extolls the joys of herding his goats through the countryside.

The Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming Food and Love by Kristen Kimball   

A high maintenance, New York Journalist interviews a rather down to the earth, earnest, and almost fanatically optimistic farmer who has big dreams of having his own farm, and falls in love with him and farming. An excellent book that doesn’t gloss over the hardships of farm life. It’s about farming, perseverance, fiery love, seasons, cycles, life, death, animals, and human nature.

 

Instructional Homesteading

 

The Encyclopedia of Country Living by Carla Emery

This should be the first book any person wanting to homestead should buy. Carla Emery lived the homesteading life that most people dream. This is the first book I turn to with any homesteading question from chickens, composting, gardening to soap making. She covers it all.

The Self-Sufficient Life and How to Live It by John Seymour

Whether you just want to know the nuances of ‘living off the land,’ want to act on your aspirations, or just want to dream about a different kind of life than the one you live today, I highly recommend picking up The Self-sufficient Life and How to Live it. John Seymour has an amazing ability to plan a farm or homestead, great diagrams, and outlines for every subject imaginable.

The Fox Fire Books

Starting in the 1970’s a group of students interviewed their grandparents’ generation of the Appalachians, about how they grew up.  This is the be all end all of homesteading. These were not people wanting to be trendy and homestead, this was the way of life, often through the depression, living the only way there was. If you want to know how people used to garden, log, quilt, make banjos, butcher a hog, bury their dead, or blacksmith then these are the books for you. I love these books.

You Can Farm by Joel Salatin

For many people, Joel Salatin was introduced in the Omnivores Dilemma, but in Virginia, Joel Salatin is the farming master. With his passion for successful farming and enriching his land through a high intensive animal rotation, ‘You Can Farm’ is beyond inspirational for new/beginning farmers. Not only does it encourage individuals with the desire to farm, but it also talks in-depth about starting a successful farming business.

Story Guides

A solid series of books with different authors writing each one, if you want a solid reference beginner book for animals this is a perfect start. Each one has detailed care from disease to breeding on Turkeys, Chickens, Rabbits, Pigs, Goats, Butchering and much more.

Gardening

Holy Shit :Managing Manure To Save Mankind  by Gene Logsdon

A thoroughly comprehensive book about compost, manure and it’s relation to soil. Best name for a book ever and it’s dead useful!

The Vegetable Gardeners Bible By Edward C. Smith

There are so many books written about gardening that are amazing and worth reading but one of my favorites for basic how-to gardening is ‘The Vegetable Gardener’s Bible’. The author, Edward C Smith, uses a system of deep soil and raised beds that adapt well to any gardening method. His precise style of writing and comprehensive vegetable references make it a perfect book for any level of gardener.

Gaia’s Garden: A Guide to Home-Scale Permaculture by Toby Hemenway

This is a book that should be on every gardener’s shelf regardless of the amount of property you have. This book got me thinking of my own gardens as living, changing, interconnected environments and not some space I keep my plant collection. The most accessible book on permaculture I’ve picked up so far.

One Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming by  Masanobu Fukuoka 

Masanobu is part-farmer, part-spiritual teacher, and he makes the case how food, and the way it is grown, is inextricably linked to our physical and mental well-being. His hands-off method of farming benefits mankind and the earth, and being a former scientist has the scientific evidence to back his claims. Permaculture at its finest.

Canning, Cooking & Preserving

Ball Complete Book of Home Preserving by Judi Kingry

everybody needs a basic book of preserving to get started. This is the one.  Very easy to understand recipes and directions, you will be canning and preserving in no time.

Charcuterie  by Michael Ruhlman

A very informative and practical book that I read cover to cover. This book gives a broad introduction to curing meat with salt, smoking (cold and hot), fresh sausages, emulsified sausages, dry-cured sausages, pates and terrines, the confit technique, rillette, and highlights of sauces and condiments which traditionally accompany charcuterie. And the recipes are fantastic.

The Joy of Pickling by Linda Ziedrich 

There are many fermenting books out there such as the famous Art of Fermenting (which I own also) but to me, this book is the most basic and comprehensive how-to book of fermenting. My pickles are perfect every time!

Home Cheesemaking by Ricki Carroll

Definitely, the place to start for first-time cheesemakers! Great overview of the basics of cheese making, necessary equipment, and why various ingredients are important.

A few other titles that I didn’t add to my list, I could keep doing this all day!

The Nourished Kitchen by Jennifer McGruther

Meat Smoking and Smokehouse Design by Stanley, Adam and Robert Marianski

Urban Homesteading by Rachel Kaplan

The complete Winter Harvest Handbook by Eliot Coleman

Root Cellering by Mike and Nancy Buble

There are so many wonderful books out there, I would love to hear your favorite book recommendations!